The skill tree is supposed to mimic that descent into insanity for the player. As the story went on the protagonist began to actually enjoy killing more and more. Far Cry 3 included a skill tree but there was a reason for it. I’m about to go on a rant but bear with me. It’s only in Catalyst because skill trees are in almost every other AAA game right now, and it’s why the homogenisation of blockbusters should be worrying. Grinding for XP in a Mirror’s Edge game doesn’t seem like it fits, right? That’s because it doesn’t. Its XP and skill trees are another example of this. Its movement is magnitudes above any other AAA game, and yet, everything else in Catalyst feels like it is chasing industry trends. A keen eye could probably spot dozens of alternate ways around, under and off of obstacles. While the Runners Vision trail will guide you through the simplest ways to get to the destination, Catalyst’s world is set up for speedrunners to shave seconds off their runs. It’s hefty, it has momentum, it really challenges the player to know what they’re doing.

Which is a shame, because at its core, Mirror’s Edge’s parkour is excellent. This means players can endlessly kick enemies into one another or the enemy AI will throw themselves off of rooftops like a badly choreographed student play. For some reason Faith’s main attack is susceptible to parries and counters but her directional kick isn’t. But Faith is also equipped with a kick that can change directions. Faith can swerve around enemies easily to dodge attacks, which always feels good. Mirror’s Edge Catalyst’s combat is also incredibly easy to cheese. In its current state, placing a marker and following the thin red strip across the city is the equivalent of having your horse auto-run to your destination in an Assassin’s Creed game that’s how mentally stimulating it gets.

Wider level design and multiple routes through spaces would have made Catalyst a more engaging experience. This would not have been an issue if the game simply gave players more options to navigate these spaces themselves.

I found myself retracing the same few routes repeatedly, to get back and forth between missions. While, in theory, an open-world would only benefit a game like Catalyst (free running across endless buildings in any direction sounds exhilarating), in practice Catalyst’s open-world feels static. As exciting as the series’ wall-running, sliding and jumping is, it can’t endure being stretched this thinly. Regardless of how you feel about this trend in general, it’s definitely a core design decision that wounded Mirror’s Edge Catalyst.

Mirrors edge games